Guiderius (

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

Gwydr) is a legendary British king according to

Geoffrey of Monmouth Geoffrey of Monmouth ( la, Galfridus Monemutensis, Galfridus Arturus, cy, Gruffudd ap Arthur, Sieffre o Fynwy; 1095 – 1155) was a British cleric from Monmouth, Wales and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography ...

's ''

Historia Regum Britanniae ''Historia regum Britanniae'' (''The History of the Kings of Britain''), originally called ''De gestis Britonum'' (''On the Deeds of the Britons''), is a pseudohistorical account of British history, written around 1136 by Geoffrey of Monmouth. ...

'' (''History of the Kings of Britain'') and related texts. He can probably be identified as deriving from the historical

Togodumnus Togodumnus (died AD 43) was king of the British Catuvellauni tribe, whose capital was at St. Albans, at the time of the Roman conquest. He can probably be identified with the legendary British king Guiderius. He is usually thought to have led t ...

. The eldest son of

Cymbeline ''Cymbeline'' , also known as ''The Tragedie of Cymbeline'' or ''Cymbeline, King of Britain'', is a play by William Shakespeare set in Ancient Britain () and based on legends that formed part of the Matter of Britain concerning the early Celti ...

, he succeeds his father to the kingship of Britain. Cymbeline had voluntarily paid tribute to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, but Guiderius refused to pay it. The

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( ...

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54) was the fourth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Drusus and Antonia Minor ...

responded by invading. Claudius and his chief of staff, Lelius Hamo, landed at

Portchester Portchester is a locality and suburb northwest of Portsmouth, England. It is part of the Fareham (borough), borough of Fareham in Hampshire. Once a small village, Portchester is now a busy part of the expanding conurbation between Portsmouth ...

, entrenching themselves there while besieging the city. Guiderius conscripted all the men of Britain against Claudius and marched south to meet him in battle. The Britons clashed with the Romans and succeeded so well that the Roman army began retreating to their ships. Hamo, though, put on British armour and began attacking his own army, urging the Britons to do likewise. Because of this, Hamo was able to get close enough to Guiderius to strike him. Guiderius died then or soon after and was succeeded by his brother

Arvirargus Arvirargus (or Arviragus) was a legendary, and possibly historical, British king of the 1st century AD. A shadowy historical Arviragus is known only from a cryptic reference in a satirical poem by Juvenal, in which a giant turbot presented to the ...

, who took over as king during the battle. Guiderius is a character in William Shakespeare's play

. He and his brother

had been kidnapped in childhood by Belarius, a nobleman wrongly banished by Cymbeline, and brought up in secret in Wales, but are reunited with their father and sister Imogen in time for the Roman invasion.

References

, ''

'' 4.12-13 {{Authority control Legendary British kings 1st-century monarchs in Europe Male Shakespearean characters